Node Manager must run on each computer that hosts an Oracle WebLogic Server instance that you want to control with Node Manager. Ideally, Node Manager should run as an operating system service or daemon, so that it is automatically restarted in the event of a system failure or reboot.

By default, the operating system service starts up Node Manager to listen on localhost:5556. If you want Node Manager to accept commands from remote systems, you must edit the script to listen on a non-localhost listen address.

Oracle recommends that you install Node Manager to run as a startup service. This allows Node Manager to start up automatically each time the system is restarted. See Configuring Node Manager as an xinetd Service and Configuring Node Manager as an init.d Service.

On Windows machines, use the following steps to install a per domain Node Manager Windows service:

1. Log in to the machine with Administrator privileges.
2. Open a DOS command prompt window.
3. Change to the DOMAIN_HOME\bin directory.
4. Enter the following command:

   installNodeMgrSvc.cmd

5. After a few seconds, the following message is displayed:

   Oracle WebLogic <domain-name> NodeManager installed.

   The service is installed using the default Node Manager listen port (5556). If this listen port is already in use, the program prompts you to enter a different listen port.

CreateService failed - The specified service already exists.

If you want to uninstall a per domain Node Manager Windows service, use the following steps:

1. Log in to the machine with Administrator privileges.
2. Open a DOS command prompt window.
3. Change to the DOMAIN_HOME\bin directory.
4. Enter the following command:

   uninstallNodeMgrSvc.cmd

5. After a few seconds, the following message is displayed:

   Oracle WebLogic <domain-name> NodeManager removed.

By default, NODEMGR_HOST is set to localhost in installNodeMgrSvc.cmd, which means that Node Manager will listen only on the local host. If you do not want Node Manager listening on the local host, set NODEMGR_HOST to a valid hostname or IP address before installing the Node Manager service.

Although running Node Manager as an operating system service is recommended, you can also start Node Manager manually at the command prompt or with a script. The environment variables Node Manager requires are described in Set Node Manager Environment Variables.

Sample start scripts for Node Manager are installed in each DOMAIN_HOME/bin and the WL_HOME\server\bin directory, where WL_HOME is the top-level installation directory for Oracle WebLogic Server. However, if you select to use the script in WL_HOME\server\bin, you must first perform the prerequisite steps described in Configuring Per Host Node Manager.

Use startNodeManager.cmd on Windows systems and startNodeManager.sh on UNIX systems.

The scripts set the required environment variables and start Node Manager in the appropriate NodeManagerHome directory. Node Manager uses this directory as a working directory for output and log files. To specify a different working directory, edit the start script with a text editor and set the value of the NODEMGR_HOME variable to the desired directory.

• Command Syntax for Starting Java-Based Node Manager
  

-Dweblogic.nodemanager.ShellCommand='ssh -o PasswordAuthentication=no %H wlscontrol.sh -d %D -r %R -s %S -x -c -f sample_custom_startscript.sh %C'

The weblogic.nodemanager.ShellCommand attribute specifies the command template to use to communicate with a remote script-based Node Manager and execute Node Manager functions for server instances under its control.

The template assumes that wlscontrol.sh is in the default path on the remote machine hosting Node Manager.

ssh -o PasswordAuthentication=no %H wlscontrol.sh -d %D -r %R -s %S %C'

The possible command line options are listed in Table 4-1. The possible parameter values are listed in Table 4-2.

ssh -o PasswordAuthentication=no wlscontrol.sh myserver start

ssh -o PasswordAuthentication=no 172.11.111.11 wlscontrol.sh -d ProductionDomain
 -r ProductionDomain -s ServerA'

The ssh command must include the string:

-o PasswordAuthentication=no

This string passes the ssh PasswordAuthentication option. A value of yes causes the client to hang when it tries to read from the console.

$ rngd -r /dev/urandom -o /dev/random -b

EXTRA OPTIONS="-i -r /dev/urandom -o /dev/random -b -t 60 -W 2048"

To stop Node Manager, close the command shell in which it is running.

wls:/nm/mydomain> stopNodeManager()

Stopped Node Manager Process successfully

wls:/offline>

See stopNodeManager in the WLST Command Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server.

The shutdown scripts for Node Manager are installed in the DOMAIN_HOME/bin and the WL_HOME/server/bin directories, where WL_HOME is the top-level installation directory for Oracle WebLogic Server.

These scripts require the NODEMGR_HOME variable to be set before execution. DOMAIN_HOME/bin/stopNodeManager.[cmd|sh] comes configured with the appropriate DOMAIN_HOME and NODEMGR_HOME values. However, before executing WL_HOME/stopNodemanager[.cmd|sh], you must define NODEMGR_HOME correctly.

To stop Node Manager, use stopNodeManager.cmd on Windows systems and stopNodeManager.sh on UNIX systems.

1. Start the Administration Server manually by performing one of the following actions:
   • Run the startWebLogic script from the DOMAIN_HOME/bin directory, where DOMAIN_HOME represents the directory in which your Oracle WebLogic Server domain is configured.
   • Invoke WLST and use the WLST startServer command to start the Administration Server.
2. (optional) Add any additional configuration information for the Administration Server.
3. Invoke WLST, if not already running.

   On Windows, you can use a shortcut on the Start menu to set your environment variables and invoke WLST.

4. Connect WLST to the Administration Server instance using the connect command.
5. Establish startup information using the nmGenBootStartupProps command. This command generates the Node Manager property files boot.properties and startup.properties.
6. Shut down the Administration Server, which also disconnects WLST.
7. Start Node Manager. See Starting and Stopping Node Manager.
8. Invoke WLST. See Invoking WLST in Understanding the WebLogic Scripting Tool.
9. Connect WLST to Node Manager using the nmConnect command.
10. Start the Administration Server using the nmStart command.
    The following example starts the Administration Server in the specified WebLogic domain using Node Manager. In this example, the prps variable stores the system property settings and is passed to the command using the props argument.

    wls:/nm/mydomain> prps = makePropertiesObject("AdminURL=http://
    listen_address;listen_port;Username=username;Password=password
    ;weblogic.ListenPort=8001")
    wls:/nm/mydomain> nmStart("AdminServer",props=prps)
    Starting server AdminServer...
    Server AdminServer started successfully
    wls:/nm/mydomain>

1. Start Node Manager. See Starting and Stopping Node Manager.
2. Start an Administration Server. See Starting an Administration Server with a Startup Script in Administering Server Startup and Shutdown for Oracle WebLogic Server.
3. Invoke WLST and connect to an Administration Server using the connect command. See Invoke WLST.
4. Start the Managed Server using the WLST start command.

1. If you have not already done so, create a Managed Server.
2. Node Manager must run on each computer that hosts Oracle WebLogic Server instances that you want to control with Node Manager. Configure each computer as a machine in Oracle WebLogic Server. See Configuring a Machine to Use Node Manager.
3. Assign each server instance that you will control with Node Manager to the machine on which it runs. See Assigning Server Instances to a Machine.
4. Start Node Manager on the computer that you want to host the Managed Server. The Oracle WebLogic Server custom installation process optionally installs and starts Node Manager as a Windows service on Windows systems. If it's not already running, you can start Node Manager manually at a command prompt or with a script.

• Configuring a Machine to Use Node Manager
  
• Assigning Server Instances to a Machine
  

1. Start Node Manager. See Starting and Stopping Node Manager.
2. Invoke WLST and connect to Node Manager using the nmConnect command.
3. Start the Managed Server using the WLST nmStart command.

   Note:

   If you use the default security providers, the first time you start a Managed Server instance, it must be able to contact the Administration Server.

   To start a Managed Server in MSI mode when the Administration Server is down, you must use WLST to connect directly to Node Manager.

wls:/nm/mydomain> nmStart("managed1")
Starting server managed1 ...
Server managed1 started successfully
wls:/nm/mydomain>